Danny Boyle delivers another classic!

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2005)

Title: 28 days later
Director Danny Boyle
Stars: Cilliam Murphy, Noah Huntley, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns
Review:
I finally got to see this film after much anticipation and was very pleased. The waiting was well worth the wait. The film is effectively creepy and scary and demonstrates that not a lot of cgi or a huge budget is needed to effectively scare the pants of an audience.
The premise of the film is familiar since we've seen this sort of apocalyptic theme played out before in many films. This time around my hat goes down to Danny Boyle for creating a truly deserted and isolated place! It literally looks like no ones living in London! No one! Except maybe a few rabid raging zombies here and there. This idea of a desolated earth has been done before many times in films like George Romeros Dead Trilogy, Escape from New York, The Omega Man, Mad Max and The Quiet Earth, so the premise isn't necessarily something new, still it manages to impress. Empty streets, news papers with doomsday headlines of contagion spreading world wide, missing peoples pictures all over the city. All elements that enhance the feeling of desolation.
The main character Jim, wakes up from a coma to find a desolated world. This is one of those films that continuously makes you ask yourself, what would I do if this were happening to me? To me that is really something, because it lets me know that I'm really into this film, and in the theater I was watching it in, the audience had the same reaction.
This film takes a lot of inspiration from previous zombie films, there are moments here and their that will instantly remind you of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. I think its cool that this film takes inspiration in Romeros now classic zombie films. I'm fine with paying homage to other films, just as long as the filmmakers give it their own special touch, and Danny Boyle certainly did that.
One of the most interesting factors from this film is the level of reality displayed. Never for a minute did I feel I was watching some popcorn/summer flick (not that I hate those) but rather, this film had a realistic tone that really augmented the horror scenes. The scenes that would make you jump out of your seat. Be on the look out, there are some genuine scares on this one! After you see how crazy and vicious the infected are you are genuinely concerned that one of those crazy zombies will pop out of nowhere an mess everything up for the survivors. In other words, you never feel safe.
The zombie effects were different, not a lot o latex going on here, but trust me that is not a bad thing. These zombies look scary as hell...its all in those crazy red and yellow eyes. Its more about the ferociousness that they attack.
The performances are great, and intense. I loved the chemistry between Jim and Selena. I cared for Frank and his daughter and wanted everything to work out OK for them! I really cared for these characters and didn't want anything to happen to them and that says something about a performance. I really admire Danny Boyle for making a truly horrifying zombie flick with such a limited budget. Yay for Danny Boyle, now go see 28 days later!
Rating: 5 out of 5